Towards the Democratisation of Care? Insights From Co-Governance in Local Welfare in Spain and Italy

The organisation and distribution of care responsibilities represent a central issue in contemporary welfare debates. Although welfare systems have progressively sought to socialise care related risks tackling distribution's inequality, the organisation of care services received less attention. The organisation of care should be democratic which requires inclusive governance that engages all stakeholders. In decentralised systems such as those in Italy and Spain, the local level plays a pivotal institutional role in shaping care policies, influenced by both vertical and horizontal subsidiarity. This article examines to what extent local governance contributes to the democratisation of care and what are the factors that shape local differences through a comparative analysis of four cities-two in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and two in Andalusia (Spain)-and across two policy areas: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and Long-Term Care (LTC). Drawing content analysis of 79 policy documents and 25 interviews, we investigate the degree of care democratisation from a multilevel territorial perspective. Our findings reveal significant differences in governance between ECEC and LTC, largely attributable to supramunicipal frameworks and to the multilevel distribution of responsibilities. Regional traditions and path dependency further shape care arrangements. Nonetheless, the local dimension, particularly the political will, resources availability, and openness to participatory processes, emerge a relevant factors. We argue that national and regional institutions should reinforce municipal capacity to promote co-governance. Moreover, enhancing the inclusion of less-structured and marginalised actors across all levels is essential to advancing a more democratic and therefore equitable care system.